• The ski school is unusual. Students wear red safety vests over their jackets to identify who is in class and I believe to let all the rest of us know we should be afraid...very afraid. From what I observed, no instruction really seems to occur other than the instructor making sure everyone lines up on the hill once they get to the top. Then the instructor (I use the term loosely) signals to the first person in line to start down the hill. That person skis in what could only best be described as "completely out of control" until they stop on their own - usually by spectacularly taking out some other non-ski school person. At this point the instructor signals the next victim..er student.. to begin their careening path down the hill. I assume that once the instructor has sent all the students down the hill, they gather everyone up somehow in a line and the process repeats. I can't tell you for sure however since, after we witnessed two 10 rated collisions and had a couple of near misses come our way, we packed up and went home.

  • Ski school aside, the overall skill level here is higher than I expected. Most people ski very well and, typical of places where man-made snow is the norm, they can set a very solid edge. Even the snow boarders here seem above par.  Away from the bunny hill it's rare to see them skidding a turn instead of carving it.  On the other hand, there were no moguls at Bearstown that I could see and the terrain wasn't very challenging (aside from the ice).

  • Lift attendants do not always catch chairs for you here at the non-high speed lifts. After the first time you get whacked in the calf or thigh, you learn how to absorb the blow yourself, but the 1st time is a pretty hard lesson.

  • They play music over the loud speaker system at all times while you are skiing. Loud Korean hip-hop stuff. Not my cup of tea but Nancy and the kids liked it. Sort of like hanging out near a snowboard half pipe in the US.

  • Snowboarding is huge here. Probably a 5 to 1 ratio of boarders to skiers. Interestingly they almost all take off the board to ride the lift instead of just unstrapping one boot and doing the drag,shuffle routine they usually do in the states. Far less falls on the lifts as a result.

  • Lifties love to practice their English on you when they see a foreign face. Every one of them would find some question to ask as we loaded or unloaded. "How are you?" "Are you tired?" "Having fun?" "Is that your son?" "Do you live here?" "Watch out for the ski school!" (just kidding on the last one).

  • Many snacks at the hill are just like home.  Gatorade, hot cocoa, chips, etc.  Many aren't...silkworm larvae,  kimchi, Sushi, etc. Makes for an interesting smell in the restaurants.

  • In 20+ years of skiing somehow I managed to complete my ski day without the use of a power tool.  Who knew what I was missing. Here in Korea, when you finish up for the day or want to put up the skis for a quick rest break, there is a row of air guns staged just before the ski racks and parking lot. This allows the discerning skier to blow all that pesky snow and ice off the skis. From now on I'm certain I'll probably gripe about their absence in the US. No more banging the old boards together and scraping ice off for me. No more water puddles in the car from the snow melting off the skis on the ride home. How did I ever manage without this? How? Oh, and they are great for harassing the kids while you're packing up. Besides they started it - really they did. I'm pretty sure one of the signs above the airgun rack says not to do it, but hey - my Korean's not that good yet and hardly anyone there could speak enough English to tell me to stop. So right now I'm the quickest draw in the Dickinson family airgun duel competition. No matter what Josh says! Ha!

One of the very first things I did on learning I was being transferred to Seoul was to hop on Google and see if there was skiing in Korea. Sure enough there is! In fact it's a rapidly growing sport here and skiing in Korea is growing faster than anywhere else in the world.

Unfortunately, it took until the very end of the season here to get out and sample the local ski scene myself. What I found was that like most things here, it was both similar and different vs. the US.

Here's my thoughts after Josh, Sarah, Nancy and I trekked an hour northeast of Seoul to Bears Town Ski Area for a few hours of fun on the snow.

  • Skiing here proved once again, that no matter where you are, how big the hill is or what the conditions are, there is no such thing as a bad day skiing. At some places the fun comes in bigger scoops, but no matter what, you're outside, you're exercising, you're not at work, and everyone is having fun. It's the same everywhere.

  • Bears Town is about the size of Boyne Highlands for height with maybe half to two-thirds the trails. Not bad for one hour from home. Sure beats Pine Knob.
Life in Korea: Skiing
  • Snow conditions at Bears Town are tolerable but only just. The snow is 95% man-made and there is a definite base of hard ice underneath. It's workable and sure beats not skiing, but next year I plan to head east a couple hours further east to Yongpyong which is much bigger and has a decent amount of nature made fluffy stuff. Still I hit no rocks and the bruise I got from my fall to the ice wasn't that bad.

  • Hours and pricing are very interesting. Bears Town, like most areas here, is open from 6am to 2am. Yes, they only close for 4 hours each day. We arrived at 7:00 and skied for 3 hours for about $18 US. That is hard to beat anywhere especially as we could have stuck around for 3 more hours on our passes. Given the high speed lifts, you can get in a lot of runs for not much cost.

  • Unfortunately, the crowds are something to be planned for. In fact they are the reason we left so early. At 7:00 the slopes were not empty but there was plenty of space on the hill. By 10:30 the lines were long and the ski school was out (not a good thing it turned out). On our final trip down, several near collisions convinced us that we could best enjoy the resort by returning another day.

A view of Bears Town ski area from the parking lot - the picture wouldn't stitch properly so hopefully the overlap works.
It's all about the smiles and having fun.  We had plenty of both!
Sarah models the latest in slope side airgun equipment.
Josh enjoys the ride up on the chairlift.